Anchoring device for well packers



Oct. 9, 1951 R. A. LAMB ANCHORING DEVICE FOR WELL PACKERS Filed Aug. 2, 1946 Patented Oct. 9, 1951 ANCHORING DEVICE FOR WELL PACKERS Roy A. Lamb, Dallas, Tex., assigner to Merla Tool Corporation, Dallas, Tex., a corporation of Texas Application August 2, 1946, Serial No. 687,837

3 Claims. (Cl. 166-12) This invention relates to new and useful improvements in anchoring devices for well packers.

The usual type of well packer which is employed for packing 01T or sealing the annular acter described, which is arranged to be con nected to the support or mandrel of the well packer and which is so constructed that the gripping slips of the well packer may be initially set space between a well tubing and a wel1 casing is ,5 in the usual manner to lock the assembly against ordinarily connected in the well tubing and indownward movement after which the gripping cludes a plurality of gripping slips which are slips of the anchoring device may be set to lock adapted to be moved outwardly into a set posithe assembly against upward displacement;` ref tion in engagement with the wall of the casing. lease of the lassembly being accomplished merely When the slips are in a set position, the packing :.10 by a lifting of the well tubing which initially remember, generally in the form of an annular leases the slips of the anchoring device and subf sleeve, is distorted into packing position by the sequently releases the slips of the well packer weight of the tubing string and this weight is whereby the device may be set,A then released also depended upon to hold the slips in their and reset at anydesired elevation and any deexpanded, gripping position, said slips being consired number of times without removal from lthe structed to prevent downward movement of the well pipe. assembly. The gripping slips perform no func- A particular objectofvthe invention is to protion in locking the packer against upward movevide lan improved auxiliary anchoring device for ment and only the weight of the tubing string well packers, wherein the packing member of the resists such upward displacement. Asrwells are well packer is moved into its expanded or seal-4 drilled to deeper depths with increased bottom ing position prior to the time that the gripping hole well pressures, the weight of the tubing in slips of the auxiliary anchoring device are en,y which the well packer is connected has been gaged with the well casing or pipe to lock the found insuicient to prevent the upwardr dispacker assembly against upward movement; the placement of the packer assembly by these higher v construction being such that the expanded well pressures and it is therefore desirable that packer member is engaged with or contacts the a positive anchoring or locking of the well packer gripping slip unit of the anchoring device so that against unintentional upward movement be pi'othe force of any pressure below the packing memvided to assure maintenance of the packing oiV ber tending to move saidV member upwardly is or sealing action of said packer. l 30 transmitted to the gripping slip unit to force It is one of the objects of the present inventhe gripping slips thereof` into a tighter gripping tion to provide-an improved anchoring device engagement with the well casing or Apipe to as-v WhiCh may be readily combined with the usual sure the prevention of upward displacement of type of well packer and which has means ,for the assembly and maintenance of the packing positively locking the assembly against unintenseal. tional upward displacement. The construction designed to carry out the in` A11 imDOrtant Object of the invention is to vention will be hereinafter described together Provide an mplOVed aIlChOiing device for well with other features of the invention. packers which device is constructed inthe form The invention will be more readily understoodk 0f an attajhment Whfleby it may be easily C011* 40 from a reading of the following specification and nected with an` ordinary well packen without by reference to the accompanying drawing. hanglflg th? st ructulfe 0f 71:19 latter? Sal@ devlce whereinv an example of the invention is shown, including gripping slips which have their grip-l and wherein: p y o feeth ,drgosed nggelteloteck 'lle gg: 45 Figure 1 is a view, partly in section and partly in yelgal .upwfa n W C in elevation of the improved anchoring device'. g or pipe, said gripping slips of the attachment constructed im d ith th in nti and being urged into tight` gripping engagement by .u t accor anw e Ye onf the pressure force below the packer and func- 1 .us ra'tmg Saud devlcgcoimectfed Wlth an ort-h tioning to positively prevent upward movement nary Well Wicker th'e gnppmg 511135 of both pack? while the usual gripping slips of thewell packer @nd anchormg deVlce bemg in a retracted P051' act to prevent downward movement of the lassemnon p y g bly to assure positive locking of said assembly in Figure 2 is an enlarged, transverse, vertical, both directions. sectional view of the anchoring device, with the Still another object of the invention is to pro- Slips thereof in an expanded or gripping posi--` vide an improved anchoring device, of the char- 55, tion, and .l

Figure 3 is ra horizontal, cross-sectional view, taken on the line 3--3 of Figure 2.

In the drawings, the letter A designates an ordinary well packer which is generally known as a simple hook wall type of packer. The packer includes a tubular mandrel IU which forms the main support of the packer assembly. An annular elastic packing sleeve I I surrounds the mandrel and has its lower end confined within a slip expanding cone I2 which cone is normaily supported upon a supporting ring` I3 secured to the mandrel. The upper end of the packing' element is confined within therecessed lower portion of a retaining collar I4 and a packing gland I5 ts within the upper end of the retaining collar.

upward displacement of the assembly is provided. Only the weight of the tubing or pipe to which the mandrel I0 is connected is depended upon to maintain the packer in its set position. If the pressure beneath the packer is excessive, such pressure acts against the set packing member or sleeve and tends to lift or raise said sleeve upwardly.V Should this pressure become sucient the packing sleeve is forced upwardly which results in lifting the entire tubing string and kinking or bending said string or in many cases, blowing said tubing upwardly out of the well bore.

The packing gland includes suitablepacking rings I 6 preferably of the pressure seal type which pack 0E the annular space between the exterior. of the mandrel IU and the interior of the packing element and cone I2. A suitable re-inforcing sleeve is disposed within the bore of the annular packing element or sleeveII and has its ends extending beyond the upper and lower ends of. the packing sleeve.

Gripping slips I8 which have their gripping teeth disposed to prevent downward movement when said slips engage the wall of. a well pipe or casing B, are mounted to slide on the slip expanding cone I2. The4 slips are connected toa tubular slip carrier i9 by links 2U and the carrier is slidable on the mandrel Ill. Arcuate flat friction springs 2|. are secured to the slip carrier and normally ride upon and frictionally engage the wall of the. well pipe or tubing B. The carrier is connected to the mandrel Ill by means of a. glldgeon or radialpin 22 which extends out- Wardly fromv the mandrel and which engages within an inverted J-slot- 23. formed .in the. carriet..

The well packer above described is of usual construction and is. arranged to be set within the Well pipe or casing in the. usual manner. Normally the. parts are. in. the. position shown in Figure 1 and when it isl desi-red to, set the packer, the mandrel is lifted a. slight distance and then ro.- tatedso as, to align the gudgeon or pin with the. long. leg of' thev slot- 23; the mandrel` is. then moved downwardly to permitv lowering oi the slip expanding cone t2, the gripping slips b eingmaintained stationary by means of the. friction springs 2| which hold the carrier and slips against movement. Qbviously, as. the cone moves downwardly with respect to the gripping slips, said slips are expanded outwardly into engagement with the well casing B in the usual manner to lock the assembly against further downward movement. The mandrel is formed with by-pass slots or openings 24 which when the mandrel moves downwardly to set the packer and expandV the packing sleeve moves into or below the packing rings I 6 to close said slots.

As explained, the particular construction of the packer A is subject to variation and may be any one of a number of packers now' in general use. So long as the well packer is constructed with its. packing member or sleeve capable of independent movement relative to the mandrel or tubi-ng; on which it is mounted, whereby vsaid In carrying out. the present invention, an anchoring device C which is constructed in the .form of an attachment for an ordinary well packer is provided. This anchoring device includes a tubular mandrel 3|] which has its lower end coupled to the upper end of the well packer mandrel I0 by a coupling collar 3|. The upper end. of the mandrel is connected to a shing neck 31 which in turn is coupled to the well tubing T. A slip expanding cone 3.3 is threaded onto the lower portion of the neck 32 and is thereby afxed or secured to the mandrel 30. A plurality Of gripping slips 34 are slidable on the slip expanding cone. 33, being retained thereon by suitable dove-tailed ribs 35 which engage recesses 36 in the inner wall of the slips. Each slip is retained against displacement on the cone by a threaded pin 36a which extends throughthe slip and engages longitudinal grooves 31 formed in each dove-tail 35..

The slips 34. are connected by links 38 with a slip carrier 39. This slip carrier includes a collar 4l) which surrounds the tubular mandrel 3|! and which has a tubular sleeve 4| secured to its lower portion and extending therebelow. The coupling collar 3| which connects vthe mandrel 3l) withfthe mandrel I0 of the well packer is disposed within the sleeve 4I and the uppery end of said collar is adapted to engage the underside of the collar 4Q of the slip carrier 39. When the gripping slips are in their loweredV position on the cone 33, as shown in Figure l, said slips are in a retracted position. This position of the slips is normally maintained by means of a coilspring 42v which surrounds the mandrel 3|] and which is conned between the underside of. the. neck 32 and the top of the slip carrier 39, said spring constantly exerting its pressure to urge the slip carrier and slips attached thereto downwardly with respect to the cone 33.

packing member is slidable on said mandrel or the assembly against downward movement within the well tubing and no positive locking against In the operation of the anchoring device C', said device is connected to the ordinary well packer A-by the coupling collar 3| and the parts are in the position shown. in Figure l with the slips I84 of the packer, as well as the slips 34 of the anchoring device., in their retracted position. When the position at which the packer is tobe set is. reached, the well tubing, mandrel 30 and mandrel I 0. are all rotated so as to move the con` nesting pin or gudgeon 22. of the well packer into. a position aligned with .thev long leg of the. slot` 23. inthe. slip carrier of the packer. The tubing is` then moved, downwardly to lower the mandrel' 3U and mandrel Ill and asexplained,y lowering of the mandrel I0 will result in Ysetting the grip: ping slips. I'8 of: the well packer. When this occurs, further downwardmovement of the eX- panding cone [2 of the packer and the. packing element I I is prevented.

As the tubing is subsequently lowered, the lower end of the sleeve LI of the slip carrier 39 or the anchoring device C strikes the upper end of 5i s the well packer assembly and this engagement of "the sleeve will tend' to expand the packing element l I of the well packer. "Downward movement of the sleeve 4I will continuevuntil the packing element II is expanded or distorted radially outwardly into sealing positiony and when this occurs, further downward movement of the sleeve is prevented. Since the sleeve forms a Apart of the 'slip carrier 39 of the anchoring deviceC, halting of downward movement of said slipcarrier prevents further downward movement of the gripping slips 34 connected therewith. However, the tubing T and mandrel 30 may continue to move downwardly until the slip expanding cone 33 of the anchoring device has moved downwardly with respect to the stationary gripping slips 34 sufficiently to expand said slips into gripping position, as shown in Figure 2. At this time the collar 3| which connect-s the mandrel 30 with the mandrel I is spaced above the packing gland I5 so a direct contact between the packing sleeve assembly of the well packer and the mandrel 30 is not had. The teeth 34a of the slips 34 are disposed in a direction opposite to the gripping teeth of the slips I8 of the well packer and therefore their engagement with the well casing or pipe B will lock the entire assembly against upward displacement within the pipe. Thus, after the slips of the anchoring device have been set, the assembly is locked against movement in both directions in said pipe.

It will be evident that with the slips 34 of the anchoring device in their set position, the sleeve 4I of the slip carrier is engaging the upper end of the packing member assembly of the well packer. Any pressure below the well packer which acts against the packing member II thereof will tend to lift or raise said packing member and obviously this force will be transmitted through said packing member directly to the sleeve 4I of the slip carrier of the anchoring device. This force urges the slip carrier and the slips 34 attached thereto upwardly on the expanding cone 33 which is, of course, held stationary by the mandrel and tubing string. Therefore, any force exerted against the packing member I l of the well packer which would tend to raise or lift said member is transmitted to the gripping slips 34 of the anchoring device to urge said slips into tighter gripping position and thereby positively lock the entire assembly against upward displacement within the well bore.

In order to remove the assembly, it is only necessary to raise the well tubing T which will exert an upward pull on the slip expanding cone 33 of the anchoring device C and this will move said cone upwardly with relation to the slips,

whereby the slips 34 being dove-tailed to the cone, will move inwardly to their retracted position. It is noted that the coil spring 42 assists in forcing the slips 34 toward their retracted position on the cone 33. Continued raising of the tubing will result in the recovery ring I3 on the mandrel I0 of the well packer striking the cone I2 of said packer and thereby effect a retraction of the slips I8. Manifestly the assembly could be moved to another elevation and reset without removal of the assembly from the well tubing B.

' The device is relatively simple in construction and may be attached to any standard type of well packer having slips for locking said packer against downward movement and also having its packer member assembly slidably mounted on rits supporting mandrel or tubing. It might be noted that the sleeve 4I of the slip carrier 39 may be provided with relieforby-pass ports 4Ial to'` permit the escape of any liquid whichv may enter said sleeved during lowering of the device within the pipe. The anchoring deviceprovides avpositive means for locking the entire assembly against upward movement-within the vpipe and obviously its'slip's, 'functioning jointly withl the' slips of the well packerwill lock said packer against unintentional upward displacement within VVthe well casing.

The foregoing description of the invention is explanatory thereof and various changes in the size, shape and materials, as well asin the details.

of the illustrated construction may be made, within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. The combination with a well pipe and a well packer therein comprising a packer support, an expansible packing element on said support, and gripping slips on said support below said packing element movable to gripping position gripping the well pipe to lock the packer against downward movement in the well pipe to permit the packing element to be distorted into sealing position between the packer support and well pipe, of an anchoring device having a mandrel secured to the upper end of the well packer support, said anchoring device also including radially movable gripping slips, and means operable by downward movement of the mandrel and well packer support relative to the distorted packing element for moving said anchoring device gripping slips into gripping position to lock the packer assembly against upward movement within the well pipe, said last named means being operable only after the gripping slips of the well packer have been moved into a gripping position.

2. The combination with a well pipe and a well packer therein comprising a packer support, an expansible packing element on said support and gripping slips on said support below said packing element movable to gripping position between the packer support and well pipe to lock the packer against downward movement in the well pipe to permit the packing element to be distorted into sealing position, of an anchoring .device including, a mandrel connected to the support of the packer, a downwardly tapering slip expanding member secured to the mandrel, a slip carrier below the slip expanding member surrounding the mandrel and movable thereon, and gripping slips attached to the slip carrier and slidable' on the slip expanding member whereby when said member is moved downwardly with respect to the slips, said slips are urged radially outwardly into gripping position with the well pipe, the anchoring device gripping slips having gripping means constructed to grip the well pipe to lock the anchoring device and connected well packer against upward movement in the well pipe, the lower end of said slip carrier being engageable with the upper end of the packing element after the latter has been distorted into sealing position upon lowering said mandrel and support relative to the distorted packing element whereby such engagement halts further downward movement of the slip carrier and gripping slips of the anchoring device to allow the slip expanding member to move downwardly relative to the slips to move the slips radially outwardly to grip the well pipe and hold the packing element in sealing position.

amont 3. The combination as( set, ioanth in c1 a.im2JL together withy a. coiled` spring. surrounding the. mandrel.. of the anchoring deviene and.conned be tween. the. slipl expanding member and the slip carrier'. for urging' these: parts tow-ardia;y separated; position whereby the grppingslips of said anchoring d'viee @arer normally urged towardl a retracted cannon-gripping position.

8: f REFERENCES CITED Thev following references are of record in ther` file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name DateL 1,892,442 Wickersham Dec. 27 1932 2,275,935 Baker Mar. 10,1942 2,332,749 Pagev Oct. 26, 1943v 2,379,394 Young June 26, 1945. 2,3805612` Q untreil J'uly 31, 1945 

